ALLAN BEVAN, COMPOSER

Shakespeare's 400th

7/27/2015

 
We are such stuff as dreams are made on, and our little life is rounded with a sleep.  
William Shakespeare, The Tempest
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My No Mortal Business was a co-commission of Chorus Niagara, The Richard Eaton Singers, and the Vancouver Bach Choir. It was first performed by Geraint Wyn-Davies, actor, Johanne Ansell, soprano, Chorus Niagara, the Toronto Orpheus Choir, and the Talisker Players, conducted by Robert Cooper in St. Catharines, ON, and Toronto in 2012.

UPCOMING PERFORMANCES:

The Richard Eaton Singers, Timothy Anderson, actor, Dr. Leonard Ratzlaff, conductor, The Winspear Centre for Music, Edmonton, AB, Sunday, March 13, 2016 (western Canadian premiere; see poster below for further details)

Orpheus Choir of Toronto, Geraint Wyn-Davies, actor; Maeve Palmer, soprano; Robert Cooper, C.M., conductor, Trinity-St. Paul's United Church, Toronto, Saturday, April 23, 2016 (this performance will take place on the day Shakespeare died in 1616)


No Mortal Business (title from a line in The Tempest) is a large-scale choral/orchestral work with text by Shakespeare, and although it wasn't originally intended as an anniversary work it strikes me as something that would be very suitable for any 2016 concert program wishing to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the death of the bard.

No Mortal Business features an important part for an actor who is known in the score as "the prologue". In Shakespeare's time the prologue gave short speeches providing necessary historical background or plot advancement. The part of "Chorus" in Shakespeare's Henry V is the bard's best example, and I admit to being influenced by Derek Jacobi's wonderful portrayal in Kenneth Branagh's film of this play. The prologue in No Mortal Business speaks only the words of the bard but his lines are extracted from many of his plays and sonnets and reassembled in a way that provides a possible vision of the actor himself in his final years. What emerged in this lengthy process of research and (respectful) re-creation was a vision of a mighty talent who was plagued by self-doubt, frustrated by the stress of life as a struggling artist and consumed by the thought of his impending death. In No Mortal Business, Shakespeare's words become haunting 'soliloquies' appearing between the choral numbers and also over and above the music that I have composed. The role of the prologue in No Mortal Business is challenging, as it requires an actor who is capable of portraying a wide range of emotion, is familiar with the Elizabethan stage, and has enough musical background to stay in sync with chorus and orchestra.

The part for the soprano soloist is dramatic in nature too - she portrays the Angel of Death who sings alternatively comforting and disquieting words that resonate deeply in the soul of the prologue and stir reaction from the actor, the chorus, and the chamber orchestra.

No Mortal Business is in five 'Acts' and is thirty-five minutes of intense, non-stop musico-dramatic action. It contains substantial choruses intended for a large mixed-voice ensemble, most of whose text comes from Shakespeare's final play, The Tempest (e.g. new settings of Full Fathom Five, The Cloud-Capp'd Towers, and Where the Bee Sucks) but there is also snippets of ancient plainchant (In Paradisum, Requiem Aeternum) and a powerful new Kyrie Eleison. The latter liturgical passages reflect the fact that Shakespeare was born into a Catholic family and that he was a noted recusant (one who refused to attend services of the protestant Church of England), as well as an author well-versed in the questions of faith. 

Full score, vocal score, and parts are available thru the Canadian Music Centre. Contact the composer for further details.
  

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Richard Eaton Singers To Perform No Mortal Business
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The Souls of the Righteous

7/26/2015

 

The link below will take you to CBC Music where you can hear my TTBB Souls of the Righteous by Ensemble Phoebus of Montreal, directed by Roseline Blain, in performance from the recent CBC Choral Competition.  Fine singing...thank you Ensemble Phoebus. More information about this composition can be found on the "Listen" page of this web-site.
http://music.cbc.ca/#!/play/artist/Ensemble-Phbus/The-Souls-of-the-Righteous---Allan-Bevan
Il est pas tous les jours que l'on entend une interprétation vraiment magnifique de l'un de la musique. Mais ceci est un de ces jours! Votre invitation à prendre dans une performance vraiment inspirant de mes TTBB âmes des justes par l'Ensemble Phoebus de Montréal, dirigé par Roseline Blain. Chaque nuance (comme demandé par ce compositeur fastidieux) est observée partout, et la performance est livré avec une fin céleste. Félicitations Ensemble Phoebus, et merci.


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Iwan Edwards and Concerto Della Donna

6/16/2015

 
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Montreal's outstanding women's choir Concerto Della Donna is seeking out new directions following the retirement of their founding conductor, Canadian choral legend, Iwan Edwards at the end of 2014. One of the many things that I'm grateful for as a composer is all the fine performances of my music by Canadian choirs! But the time and care that Concerto Della Donna put into recording many of my compositions and arrangements for treble voices in 2011 really went beyond the call of duty. Their award-winning CD (Parlez-Moi: The Music of Allan Bevan) brilliantly showcases the group's wonderful voices, the superb playing of pianist Pamela Reimer, and the interpretative skill of Iwan Edwards.
I'm wishing the choir well as they move ahead in the future and my sincere thanks and appreciation to Iwan Edwards.  Best wishes for a fantastic retirement, Iwan!

La chorale des femmes de Montréal Concerto Della Donna est à la recherche de nouvelles directions suite à la retraite de leur chef fondateur, la légende chorale canadienne, Iwan Edwards à la fin de 2014. Une des nombreuses choses que je suis reconnaissant pour tant que compositeur est tout l'amende performances de ma musique de chorales canadiennes! Mais le temps et le soin que Concerto Della Donna mis en enregistrant beaucoup de mes compositions et arrangements pour voix aiguës en 2011 vraiment allaient au-delà l'appel du devoir. Leur CD primé (Parlez-Moi: The Music of Allan Bevan) met en valeur avec brio merveilleuses voix du groupe, le superbe jeu de la pianiste Pamela Reimer et la compétence interprétative de Iwan Edwards.
Je suis désireux chœur bien qu'ils vont de l'avant dans l'avenir et mes sincères remerciements et sa gratitude à Iwan Edwards. Meilleurs voeux pour une retraite fantastique, Iwan!

Concerto Della Donna

Listen to or Purchase the CD on I-Tunes




CANADIAN CHOIRS ON CD – NEW RELEASES
CHORALES CANADIENNES SUR DISQUE – NOUVEAUX ENREGISTREMENTS SUR LE MARCHÉ

By/ Par Patricia Abbott

Allan Bevan: Parlez-moi

Concerto Della Donna, Iwan Edwards, conductor / directeur Pamela Reimer, piano Concerto Della Donna (2011)

www.concertodelladonna.ca

This CD is a very attractive compilation of SSA/SSAA songs by Canadian composer
Allan Bevan, written over the past 25 years and all exquisitely sung by the fine Montreal group of young women,
Concerto Della Donna, and beautifully accompanied
by Pamela Reimer.
On it you will find Bevan’s compositions, which took first prizes
in ACCC’s Composition Competition
(
Ave Maria, Echo, Harp of Wild), as well as some of his Christmas pieces and folk song arrangements. The title track,
Parlez-moi, is a recent piece and one of his two arrangements of songs written by Franco-Albertan writer/composer
France Levasseur-Ouimet included on the album. The other is
Dormez, from the secular oratorio, Elles s’appelaient Marie.
If you do not know
these pieces, know that this is all repertoire worth discovering and programming with your own equal-voice ensemble!

Ce CD est une très belle compilation de chansons SSA/SSAA écrites au cours
des 25 dernières années par le compositeur canadien Allan Bevan. Elles sont
toutes très finement interprétées par l’excellente chorale montréalaise de jeunes
femmes, Concerto Della Donna, et accompagnées avec finesse par Pamela Reimer.
Vous y trouverez les compositions de Bevan primées dans le Concours
de composition de l’ACCC
(
Ave Maria, Echo, Harp of Wild), ainsi que des noels et des arrangements de folklores. La pièce-titre, Parlez-moi,
est toute récente,
et elle est l’une des deux arrangements de pièces écrites par l’auteur-compositeure
franco-albertaine, France Levasseur-Ouimet, inclus sur l’album. L’autre est
Dormez, tirée de l’oratorio Elles s’appelaient Marie. Si vous ne connaissez pas
encore ces pièces, sachez qu’il s’agit de répertoire à découvrir et à intégrer à vos
programmes pour voix égales!

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Some Recent Treble Voice Commissions 1

5/4/2015

 
Title: Your Songs (SSA and piano)
Text: Joseph Mary Plunkett (1873-1916)
Commissioned by: Women of Note, Patricia Rabson, conductor, Winnipeg, MB
Premiere: May 4, 2014, Manitoba Legislature
Available Through: Canadian Music Centre

Commissioned as part of the choir's 20th anniversary celebrations. Joseph Mary Plunkett was an Irish Catholic poet who was executed by the British for his part in the Easter Rebellion, 1916.
Your Songs

If I have you then I have everything
In One, and that One nothing of them all
Nor all compounded, and within the wall
Beneath the tower I wait to hear you sing:
Love breathing low above the breast of Spring,
Pressing her heart with baby heart and small
From baby lips love-syllables lets fall
And strokes with gentle hand her quivering wing.


You come rejoicing all the wilderness,
Filling with praise the land to joy unknown,
Fresh from that garden whose perfumes have blown
Down through the valley of the cypresses--
O heart, you know not your own loveliness,
Nor these your songs, for they are yours alone.


Joseph Mary Plunkett

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Canadian Chamber Choir CD

5/3/2015

 
The Canadian Chamber Choir, Julia Davids conductor, is requesting your assistance in raising funds for their new CD, a compilation of sacred choral works by a number of Canadian composers. I'm delighted to report that they are planning to include one of my works for unaccompanied mixed voices, Hide Thy Face (published by classica.ca) on a text from Psalm 51. I heard them perform a number of the pieces that will be on the recording at a concert in Calgary about four years ago. A wonderful group with a great concept that includes singers from around the country.

More information about this project can be found at: canadianchamberchoir.ca


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    by Allan Bevan

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